Category Archives: Beef

Claire sent me this recipe several weeks ago, but in all of the Christmas hullabaloo, I forgot to post it. Now, as I sit at work doing very little of it, I figured I’d give this a post.

Usually when people send me recipes, I clean up the spelling errors and the stream-of-consciousness typing. But I’m not going to do that here because I love how weird this ingredient list came out. Apparently Peg was insisting Claire type this up and send it to me, and Claire was not all that committed to the undertaking. The sentence “drain a can of corn and drain” speaks for itself.

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2 lbs ground beef

1 large can whole peeled tomatoes

1 large can tomato sauce

chop yellow onion

chop 3 celery stalks

chop 4/5 carrots

drain a can of corn and drain

cut up 2 large potatos

chop 2 zuchinis

water til soupy

1 tbs italian seasoning

salt and pepper

1 packet dry ranch dressing

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Brown ground beef and drain.

Drain and cut up the tomatoes. (“For some reason this is different than diced tomotoes in peg’s head.”)

Sometimes The Chef and I disagree on the goodness level of certain recipes. There are recipes I love that he thinks are too standard to make as frequently as I request them. Like his Tortilla Soup. Or his Tomato Soup. Or his Mushroom Sauce. So, soups and sauces basically. Look, I know what I like.

Anyway, this is one of those recipes. In the infinite bounty that is The Chef’s current catering gig, he brought home some short ribs the other night that only needed a saucy boost for dinner. He whipped up this simple red wine sauce in 10 minutes, and while he found the whole thing totally boring, I found this sauce freaking delectable.

It’s obviously awesome on meat of any kind – and we fully plan to test it over tenderloin with fried eggs and cheese grits for Sunday brunch – but I’d wager you could even make tofu edible with this stuff. Observe:

The first official day of fall has come and gone, and that means it’s legitimately time for soup again! And I no longer have to put up with judgmental looks when I ask what the soup of the day while sitting on a patio in July.

As it is now October, I’ve clearly already made chili (cheese dogs) in celebration of the season, but this week I decided to turn my attention to things more healthy.

This recipe is similar to Mama Dunny’s oft-praised Veggie Beef Soup, and it is certainly not lacking in the ingredient department. Luckily most of these ingredients can be bought already prepped, so you get to stand and stir and taste and season without having to chop ’til your fingers fall off.

And believe it or not, the addition of Zing Zang here is not just a reflection of my inability to wait until Saturday morning to make myself a bloody. It actually adds great flavor and seasoning. Give it a slurp and see what I mean.

Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Cook on low for at least 3 hours (the longer and lower the better, but you just have to cook it until the brisket starts to pull apart).

Once the brisket is tender, remove it from the broth and let cool. Pull apart.

Turn the broth up to a boil and add the veggies. [Start with carrots and potatoes (which will take longer) and work your way down to things that cook quickly like mushrooms. ] Turn down to a simmer.

Add beef and uncooked pasta. Simmer until pasta is cooked through. Add more broth if necessary.*

TASTE and SEASON. This is a big ole mess ‘o soup (because why would make any other amount?), and that will require a LOT of seasoning. My measurements are always estimates, so use your own judgment. Nothing is more disappointing than bland broth.

Serve with Saltines. Because some things Grandma did you cannot argue with.

*Do not be afraid to add more broth (and subsequently more seasoning) as you go along. All these veggies will suck up that moisture, and the broth is so delish that you’ll want more of it.

Good news nummies – not only is it Friday, but my delusions of fall have finally become reality! It’s cool and crisp and it reminds me of my Uncle Stewart’s tailgate: Hot Damn and brown-sugar-hand-stirred-some-other-long-string-of-words-I-can’t remember BBQ sauce (recipe still pending release) will make you forget that you’re about to watch the Tigers get trounced. Again.

Anyway, another thing fall reminds me of is short ribs. Luckily, Morg passed this recipe along to me last week. And she didn’t even wait until she finished eating it to send it over, so it must be cray-mazing. (I watched a lot of Project Runway last night, so I’m talking like a cranky, mid-30s drama queen. Please forgive.)

From Morg:
“This recipe calls for a tagine (which we randomly have) but I hadn’t ‘seasoned’ the tagine (a three hour process) so I just used my dutch oven, which every chef needs. I’m obsessed with mine. I digress. This is a great meal for a Sunday or a holiday because it requires some hours on the stove, but it’s so worth it. And it leaves a nice smell floating through the house all day long. I served this over homemade mashed potatoes (recipe linked to from the Williams-Sonoma recipe for the ribs). Very simple. And I used the KitchenAid mixer instead of mashing by hand.”

One look through the ingredient list, and I was sold. I might suggest using one of The Chef’s variations of mashed potatoes, but I could be biased, so whatever blows your skirt up. Either way, an all-day simmering situation makes my mouth water. And it makes me want to say – like an Akin at a tailgate – HOT DAMN HELL YES.

Soak a tagine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place the tagine on a diffuser over medium-high heat and warm 1 tbsp of the olive oil.

Season the short ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. Dredge the ribs in the flour until evenly coated, shaking off the excess. Add half of the ribs to the tagine and sear until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes total; transfer to a plate. Repeat with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and the remaining ribs.

Reduce the heat to medium and warm the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the celery, carrots and shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the Aleppo chili, bay leaf, thyme, broth, wine, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Return the ribs to the tagine.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook, turning the ribs occasionally, until the meat is tender, 4.5 to 5 hours.

Garnish the ribs with the parsley and serve immediately with mashed potatoes. Serves 4.

In a rare wave of optimism, I actually thought it was not going to be cold enough again this spring for us to post this, but once again, Mother Nature has decided to play dirty. Luckily this recipe includes two of my most favorite things, so I’ve decided to look at this as a positive.

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I believe this is another recipe The Chef stole from JR’s private stash, and judging by the comments we’ve received on his Brandy Mustard Filets, you should probably just go ahead and make this now.

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On a related note, watch yo’self when you ignite the brandy in that filet recipe. One Covington resident (who shall remain nameless) almost burned down his house with that step. And I think we’d all agree that Covington law enforcement and emergency services probably have their hands full as it is.

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2 lbs ground beef

1 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 poblano pepper, diced

2 -3 Red Stripe beers

2 packages chili seasoning

2 cans of rotel, 1 hot and 1 mild

1 30 oz can stewed tomatoes

3 bay leaves

1 can of kidney beans

1 tablespoon of sugar

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In a Dutch oven, brown beef and drain.

Return to heat and add onions and peppers. Cook about 15 mintues on medium heat.

Add tomatoes, beer, chili seasoning, rotel, and bay leaves.

Simmer for several hours. (The longer you simmer, the better it will be.)

Rinse and drain kidney beans. Add right before seving.

Serve with Mexican Crema, cheddar cheese, and chopped green onions. Oh, and the rest of that Red Stripe. Just for good measure.

My love affair with broth is almost as well-documented (and maligned) as my common law marriage to pickle juice, so this post is a foregone conclusion. The Chef made this just the other day “for fun” (a reason I obviously gave him crap for but secretly was super pleased with).

He points out that the 24-hour cooking time provides the added bonus of making the house smell amazing, and that is definitely true. Plus it freezes well, so he suggests you make a, shall we say, “boat”load? Sure. Boatload. Make that much.

The Chef told me “this should have been the first recipe to go on the blog. It’s stupid good.” This got me to thinking about which recipe was actually the first, and it should come as a surprise to no one that it was Fat Girl Special Dip from the resident FG herself. How classy!

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I think we can all agree that we’ve dialed up the taste-level here in the last few months, and that is thanks in no small part to all of our wonderful contributors. JR, the latest to finally give up the goods*, has got a recipe here that appears to be both simple and sophisticated. In my experience brandy and whipping cream make everything crazy succulent (see Barrett’s Sauteed Shroom Sauce for proof), so I have no doubt this is as fantastic as The Chef says.

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Besides, a girl can’t live on hot sausage and cream cheese alone… Well I guess she could, but it would probably be a lonely, brief existence that ended in heart disease and/or mauling by house cats. And nobody wants that.

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4 beef tenderloin steaks (about 2-3 inches thick)

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp of dijon mustard

2 tsp of Worcestershire

1/2 cup brandy

1 cup whipping cream

salt and pepper

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Season steaks with salt and pepper.

Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Cook steaks 5 minutes per side for medium rare.

Remove steaks to plate to rest.

Add mustard and Worcestershire to skillet. (If you wanted to add ‘shrooms here, I’d support you in that effort.) Season with pepper and and stir to combine. Remove skillet from heat.

Add brandy and ignite. When flame dies, return skillet to heat.

Add cream and boil for 2 mintues until reduced to a thin sauce. Pour over steaks to serve.

Serve these up with some roasted garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. Dinner is served.

*It should be noted that The Chef stole this recipe from JR’s cookbook under the guise of visiting sweet Holly Hays yesterday. Let it never be said that Barrett doesn’t have a diabolical side. Especially when recipe-warfare is involved.